Perfect Your Beard with Pure Beauty

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barber, beard, beard line, clean, clippers, coarse, comb, conditioner, Elemis, facial hair, frizz, grooming, hair, haircare, matt, men, moustache, oil, razor, scrub, shampoo, shaping, shave, smooth, tangle, texture, trim, trimming

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Whether your facial hair is just a few millimeters long or a full-grown bush, there’s no ignoring the fact that beards have well and truly made a comeback for men. Just a few years back, beards were the fodder of old, pipe-smoking dudes, but now just about anyone who CAN grow a beard has one. However, having a nice beard is so much more than just letting the hair grow, so we thought we’d take a look at some of the basic steps for maintaining a decent face-warmer.

Keep it Clean

Just like the hair on your hair, your beard will produce oils which need to be washed away on a regular basis, however unlike your head, your beard hair could also harbour traces of food! Keeping your beard clean is really important because otherwise it will start to smell and become unhygienic. You can use a facial scrub to try to care for the skin beneath but using a mild shampoo will also do the trick.

Keep it Trimmed

Unless you’re incredibly lucky, it’s really unlikely that your beard will all grow at exactly the same rate, which means that it could end up uneven and looking ratty. A tidy beard will need to be trimmed and shaped, using either a clipper with a guard or a pair of scissors, depending how dexterous you are. As soon as you start shaping your beard, you’ll notice how much better it looks and wonder how you ever survived without it!

Keep it Soft

Facial hair can have a tendency to he coarser and more bushy than head-hair, which means that it needs a product to soften and tame it. Elemis Smooth Result Shave and Beard Oil will not only help to smooth out wild beard hair, it will also make your beard smell more fragrant and can also be used as a shave oil if the beard gets too much and you decide you want to go bare-faced again.

Keep it Combed

This one may sound bonkers but as soon as your hair gets beyond a certain length you will need to start combing it, unless you want a dreadlock hanging from your face! Because of its texture, facial hair tangles really easily and if you don’t deal with these tangles on a daily basis, you could easily end up with a matted mess in a really short amount of time. Use a wide-toothed comb after you’ve treated with beard oil for a matt-free beard.

Keep it Neat

Keeping your beard trimmed and tidy is all well and good, but if you have stray hairs above your beard line, the whole effect will be ruined. Use a magnifying mirror and get up close and personal with your beard line. Try not to pluck any hairs which are too close to your natural beard line as you could end up ruining the shape, but anything which is growing more than a couple of millimeters above needs to be annihilated!

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Stay Cool Even When The Humidity Rises

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base, BB Cream, blemish, correction, decleor, Decleor BB Cream, dermalogica, Dermalogica Multi-Active Toner, Dermalogica Oil Free Matte SPF30, Elemis, Elemis Daily Redness Solution, flawless, frizz, full-coverage, hair, humid, humidity, inflammation, make-up, oil production, redness, sebum, skin, soothing, spots, spritzing, sweat, Toner

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Is it just us, or does the current weather SUCK?! It’s not quite hot, not quite cold and if it’s not hacking down with rain, it’s super humid and sticky. Dealing with humidity can be so much more difficult to deal with that other extremes of weather, but there are things you can do to help keep you looking your best, even when it seems like Mother Nature is conspiring against you! Read on for our suggestions of how to cope in humid weather.

Keep Your Hair Low-Maintenance

Unless you’re REALLY lucky, you’re probably like us and closely resemble Monica Geller in Barbados when the humid air hits your hair. All the blow-drying and straightening in the world isn’t going to be enough to tame your hair in high humidity, so the best thing you can do is just not do it! Using a daily conditioning rinse will help to weigh your hair down, taming flyaway locks, but leaving it to do it’s own thing after using the rinse will give you the best chance of a smooth barnet.

Use Lighter Products

Using thick, oily or rich products will feel fairly horrible on your skin in times of high humidity, and could even end up causing spots because they don’t allow your skin to sweat and breathe enough. Opt for cooling, spritzing products like Dermalogica Multi-Active Toner to keep your skin feeling fresh and avoid breaking out into spots or areas of redness.

Make-Up is Overrated

We know it’s tempting to wear your usual full-coverage make-up all year round, but when the humidity hits, there’s a good chance that a thicker foundation won’t even stay on your face properly. Opting for a lighter version of your usual base, like Decleor BB Cream, which will give you a decent level of coverage whilst providing moisture and blemish correction, and won’t be as susceptible to the heat and humidity as thicker products.

Rid Yourself of Redness

On humid days, we basically feel hot and bothered any time we have to move around, and this can massively exacerbate any redness that you may already experience. Elemis Daily Redness Solution will ensure that your skin doesn’t flare up in the heat and humidity and will de-sensitise and comfort irritated, red and blotchy complexions. It makes a great base for make-up and when used with the Decleor BB Cream above will give you a flawless finish.

Limit Oil Production

Humidity and heat can be a nightmare if you have naturally oily skin, so preparing for humid days with an oil-reducing product is essential for keeping your skin looking great. Dermalogica Oil Free Matte SPF30 will do a two-fold job of protecting you, firstly by offering defenses against the sun’s harmful rays, but also by regulating oil production and soothing inflammation. The ultra-sheer formula absorbs surface oils to prevent shine without any powdery residue, delivering an all-day matte finish.

Best Beauty Ingredients – Amazing Avocados

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2 hours, avocado, barrier, brighter, cacoa seed, coconut, cocoon, decleor, Decleor 24 Hour Hydrating Rich Cream, dermalogica, Dermalogica Daily Cleansing Shampoo, Dermalogica Lip Renewal Complex, Dermalogica UltraCalming Serum Concentrate, dry, dryness, Elemis, Elemis Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream, face, hair, hydration, lipid, lips, moisture, nourish, nourishment, oil, plump, rehydration, Rice Bran, sensitive, sensitivity, shampoo, Shea butter, skin, soothing, soy plant, velvety, wheatgerm

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Avocados are one of natures greatest gifts; as well as being a hugely nutritious food full of vitamins, minerals and good fats, they’re an amazing ingredient for beauty products. We’ve taken some time to go through our products and work out which ones have harnessed the power of avocados and we thought we’d share our discoveries with our lovely readers:

Dermalogica Daily Cleansing Shampoo

Avocado is a key ingredient in Dermalogica’s shampoo as it provides key oils which offer the hair moisture, helping to protect against breakage and keep the hair super soft and smooth. It contains antioxidant-rich ingredients which shield hair from heat and sun damage and is completely free of drying detergents and harsh chemicals. As well as containing avocado oil, it also benefits from grapefruit, lavender and coconut oil to keep your hair in tip-tip condition.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream

This night cream from Elemis is packed with antioxidants from avocado oils, as well as sesame oil, which protect the skin against free-radicals, deeply moisturise and provide a deep dose of anti-ageing magic. This night cream raises the skins ability to absorb oxygen, replenishes the skin to improve moisturisation and prevent future water loss and has a satin texture to leave your skin feeling plump, brighter and hydrated

Dermalogica Lip Renewal Complex

This lip treatment from Dermalogica is SO much more than your average lip balm. As well as restoring moisture to dry lips, it contains powerful ingredients which slow down the ageing process, reverse fine lines around the mouth and give an overall appearance of a more youthful, plumped lip. Avocado is included alongside cacao seed butter, rice bran oil, wheatgerm oil and shea butter to smooth and condition lip tissue while helping to prevent hydration.

Decleor 24 Hour Hydrating Rich Cream

This cream from Decleor is designed to cocoon the skin, giving nourishment for a full 24 hours to skin which is in dire need of deep rehydration. Rosehip oil provides essential fatty acids to the face, while avocado and soy plant oils offer comfort, especially in the winter months when conditions can be a little too harsh for skin which is prone to dryness. It offers a velvety finish and preserves the skins natural beauty.

Dermalogica UltraCalming Serum Concentrate

Avocado has an incredible soothing power which makes it perfect for skin which is hyper-sensitised, red and inflamed. This concentrated serum from Dermalogica helps to soothe, defend and correct skin which is suffering from sensitivity and flare-ups and can also be used following cosmetic procedures for calming and soothing skin. Avocado, as well as evening primrose and sunflower oils, will intensify the skins natural lipid barriers to improve skin from the inside out.

Make Your Shave Last Longer

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armpits, bikini line, blade, body scrub, Decleor Post-Wax Double Action Gel, friction, glide, hair, ingrown hairs, knees, legs, razor, reduce, regrowth, scrub, shave, Shaving, waxing

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Now that we’re well and truly enjoying the warmer weather here in the UK, barely a day goes by that we don’t have to shave our armpits, legs or anywhere else for that matter! Wearing smaller clothes in the heat means hair removal is more important than ever, so we thought we’d give you five tops tips for making your shave last longer so you don’t have to deal with hair removal every day.

Shower or Bathe FIRST

Most of us go for the ‘shave first, shower second’ ritual, which makes sense in terms of washing away stubble and shaving foam. However, showering or bathing first will soften the hair and remove oil from the skin, which will give you an overall closer shave and will make the hair easier to cut through.

Scrub-a-Dub-Dub

Using a body scrub before shaving will help you in a number of ways; as well as getting rid of any dirt and oil, you’ll lift the hairs and get rid of dead skin cells, making it easier to shave and allowing you to get closer to the root of the hair. It will also help to prevent ingrown hairs which can be painful and unsightly.

Use Decent Protection

Using a decent foam or shave oil will help in a number of ways. Failing to use a decent layer between skin and razor will help the blade to glide across your skin with less friction with means the blade will catch and cut more hairs, rather than just flattening them down and gliding over the top. It will also protect you from nicks and cuts which will leave you in a bloody mess!

A Light Touch

When shaving, it’s tempting to press the razor against the skin, but in fact this will make it harder for the blade to do it’s job. When shaving, especially over tricky areas like knees and bikini lines, you should let the weight of the razor be the only pressure that’s applied to the skin, and this will allow you to catch more hairs along the way, making it necessary to shave less often.

Finish The Job…

Technically speaking, Decleor Post-Wax Double Action Gel is for use after waxing, but we find that it’s great for using after shaving too, purely because it reduces the amount of hair growth once you’ve removed unwanted hair. It will also soothe and reduce redness and help to reduce the chance of ingrown hairs, too.

What To Pack in Your Beach Bag

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abroad, beach, decleor, Decleor Ongles Nail Strengthening Serum, Decleor Post-Wax Cream – Sensitive Areas, dermalogica, Dermalogica Sheer Tint, Elemis, Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Hand and Nail Cream, Elemis Treat Your Feet Foot Cream, feet, hair, hair removal, holiday, nails, pool, skin, SPF, sun, sunscreen, vacation

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Hurrah! The British summer seems to have FINALLY arrived, and just in time for a Bank Holiday weekend! If you’re planning a trip to the seaside or are even lucky enough to live near one of the beautiful beaches that the UK has to offer, we’ve got some suggestions of products which are perfect for keeping in your beach bag:

Decleor Protective Anti-Wrinkle Cream SPF30 Face

So often we hear of people smothering their bodies in sunscreen but still forgetting their face and ending up with a very red head! This SPF30 from Decleor is not only specifically formulated for the face, it will also reduce the signs of ageing and smooth out wrinkles. It’s non-greasy too, making if perfect for using underneath your beach make-up. Ideally, you’ll need to top up every two hours or so.

Dermalogica Oil Free Matte SPF30

Having oily skin can be a nightmare in the heat because not only do oily sun protection products make the problem worse, but the heat itself can make your own skin ramp up its oil production. This lotion from Dermalogica contains an SPF30 whilst also having mattifying properties which actively work to keep your oil production to a minimum, even when it gets really hot. Perfect for keeping you looking cool at the beach.

Elemis Body Detox Skin Brush

Usually we recommend this brush for rejuvenating the skin, livening up you circulation and exfoliating the skin to reveal healthier skin beneath. However, we also discovered that this brush is an absolute MIRACLE worker when it comes to brushing sand off of our feet and bodies after a day on the beach! Once you’ve dried off a little, use the brush to sweep the sand away and you won’t feel like you have grans of it between your toes for the rest of the evening. Just make sure you rinse it before your next bathroom exfoliation session!

Dermalogica Protection 50 Sport SPF50

If you’re the type of person to just lay on your sun lounger or towel, only getting up for another Calippo, then you’re probably okay with regular sunscreen. However, if you’re the more active type and will be braving a swim in the sea then you could probably benefit from a sunscreen which caters for a more active lifestyle. This one from Dermalogica is water resistant and specifically designed to hold up to a lot of sweat and movement, allowing you to be as active as you like without needing to worry about burning.

Elemis Tan Accelerator

If your entire tanning regimen this year revolves around time on British beaches then you’re going to really need to maximise your potential and get the best bang for your buck. That’s why we recommend this tan accelerator from Elemis, which helps to stimulate the body’s natural melanin production, ensuring you’re golden brown even after a short time in the sun.